Sir Alex Ferguson insists Manchester United will not sell Javier Hernandez in the summer, despite reported interest from Real Madrid.

Hernandez has scored 16 goals this season, though the Mexico international continues to struggle for game time behind a strong United strike force.

However, Ferguson remains confident Hernandez will stay at Old Trafford, claiming United will not listen to any offers.

"I've said to him it's not easy to keep leaving him out because a 16-goal tally in the number of games he's started is a brilliant record," Ferguson said. "And he'll always have that because he's fantastic in the box.

"But it's difficult when you're up against a player of Robin van Persie's form, then you've got [Danny] Welbeck, [Wayne] Rooney, [Shinji] Kagawa - that's the benefit of having a strong squad. It's given us an advantage. We are working with 26 first-team players - probably the biggest in the league.

"He's on a long contract for starters and we won't be entertaining any interest. He's a really important player for us. You see that all the time. He does something every game, he changes it. He does something different to the other strikers."

United hold a 15-point advantage over second-placed City in the Premier League standings but, despite reports linking Roberto Mancini with a move away from Manchester, Ferguson believes his rival will stay on next season.

"Yes - I don't see any reason why not," he said. "It goes with the territory. I don't think Mancini will be worried. He knows what he's capable of. Writing his team off was the only thing he can say. They are 15 points behind, he can't say: 'We've got a great chance now'.

"In January he was saying they could still win the league and that was probably the right thing to say. But now it's 15 points, what's he going to say? 'We can still win the league'? No chance."